LIFE continued as normal for those living and working in the Whitecross area of Hereford this week - despite the news that tests for the Legionella bug at the nearby Bulmers' factory had come back positive.

Although the parents of Lord Scudamore Primary School pupils were aware of the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Hereford, the majority felt there was little to worry about.

After dropping off her twin boys Iain and Jamie outside the Friar Street school, Tracy Corner from Whitecross, said: "If you get it, then you get it, but you cannot stop everything because some bug is going around."

And having checked, Sarah-Jane Gibson was less afraid of the threat posed by Legionella.

"I was worried for the children as I thought they might be more susceptible, but I know a nurse at the hospital and she told me that no children had been affected," she said.

Sarah Roden from Redhill also followed the same philosophy when she said: "I think it only affects older people, so me and the kids should be okay."

Fellow Redhill resident Gareth Watson said he had no concerns about travelling around the city.

"I bring my two kids Tyler and Keana to school but I am not very worried and my neighbours would not avoid coming over to Whitecross," he explained.

Nicola Hickinbotham was the only mother to break the trend and express a little concern.

"I know a lot of people are in hospital and I went for a check-up when I was feeling a bit ill but I was given the all clear," she said.

"I'm more concerned for the children, to be honest. My son goes to a special school and the last thing I want is for him to pick something up."

Elsewhere, Whitecross businesses offered differing views on how the Legionnaires' outbreak had affected trade.

Carol Pockett, bartender at the Plough Inn, said: "There's been no change at all in customers or the sale of Strongbow."

"You would think that being right on the doorstep, you would see a drop in business, but it has not."

However, across the road at the West Hereford Service Station, sales assistant Ellen Symonds said: "It has been really quiet, everyone has been asking about what's going on a Bulmers. I think it has scared a lot of people off."